The Mark of Athena
by agn1ka1
Summary: NEW SUMMARY because the last one sucked. The Argo II has landed. What will happen? What is the Mark of Athena? Jasper and Percabeth, don't like, don't read. Reviews and all constuctive critacism welcome. No flames please! Any questions, review or PM me.
1. Will Percy Remember?

**Quick A/N: CB is on hiatus until further ideas, either on reviews or in my head. This is the problem- I don't plan. Write, write, write, oops, run out of ideas, let's scrap it. I won't be deleting it though. Sorry to moowashere14, and all my other readers.**

**Anyways, I decided to write this cos it will be impossible to wait until _next autumn _for The Mark of Athena to come out. Why, Rick, why? One more chapter, just one more chapter... would really have hurt that much just to write a few more pages? Why? WHY? _WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY _ect.**

**So, yeah. I'm pretty annoyed. I don't own PJO or HoO. That's the only time I'm gonna write it, OK?**

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><p>Annabeth leaned over the prow of the boat, enjoying the feel of the wind in her hair. It was the only place on the ship she could really be alone, especially this close to their destination. Thalia was in her cabin, as she had been most of the voyage, Piper and Leo were making a recording to send to the camp telling them to not kill us, please, and Jason was in the room above decks that Leo insisted on calling the "Command Centre".<p>

'Annabeth? You okay?' Correction- Jason _was_ in the command centre until about ten seconds ago.

'Yeah,' she said stiffly. 'I'm fine. Shouldn't you be, I don't know, steering or something?'

'I've got the _Argo __II_ on autopilot. Festus will tell us when we get near the camp. You should go and get changed. It's an hour to landing. The Romans are a stickler for neatness, and you aren't exactly the prime example.'

Annabeth glanced down at herself. It had been a boiling hot summer, and she and the other girls had spent most of the time in strappy tops and shorts, barefoot.

'OK. I'll go now.' As she turned to leave Jason lightly touched her arm.

'Annabeth… I know you're worried about Percy, but he'll be fine. From what you've told me, he'll get to camp safely. The Romans aren't as open-hearted as the Greeks, but once he's one of them, they'll protect him with their lives.'

Annabeth smiled at him, but as soon as she got below decks, the smile dropped. It wasn't so much his safety she was worried about…

Once she was changed into jeans and her Camp Half-Blood t-shirt she stood in front of the mirror. What about jewellery? Her bead necklace, of course, went without saying, but what else? Oh, yes- her silver owl earrings, the ones Percy had loved so much. And as for rings… She picked up a small blue and grey box from the top of her dresser and opened it. The ring inside- Percy had given it to her only a couple of days before he disappeared. It was two bands of metal, one gold, one silver, entwined together with two stones on it. The stone on the silver strand was a piece of turquoise, and on the gold was a shard of grey agate. The stones were the exact same shade as Percy and Annabeth's eyes. The last time she had worn it was when she had kissed him goodbye at the campfire. Now, eight months later, she would be seeing him again.

Annabeth slipped the ring onto the middle finger of her right hand. She didn't dare think about what would happen if he wasn't there.

'Annabeth, you in there? We've nearly landed.' Annabeth ran a brush though her wind-blown hair and pushed open her bedroom door.

'Hi, Thalia. I haven't seen you in a while.'

'Don't forget me,' said a voice. 'I exist as well, you know.'

'Hey, Piper,' she said wearily. 'Has Leo come to join the party?'

'Hell, no,' Piper laughed. 'He's too busy trying to instruct Festus not to incinerate the whole Roman camp on landing. As far as I can tell, it's not working.'

Annabeth bit her lip. 'Thalia, Piper- I'm scared. What if Percy doesn't remember me? What if he doesn't like me anymore? What if- what if he's got another girlfriend?'

Thalia hugged her friend. 'Annabeth, that's just a load of what ifs. Jason had the memory of one person left- I'm betting that for Percy, that one person is you. Of course he'll like you. How could he not? And if he _has_ got a new girlfriend,' she grinned wickedly at Annabeth. 'I'll just have to pound the memories back into him, won't I?' Annabeth smiled weakly.

'Thanks, Thalia. You don't know how grateful I am.'

'Hey ladies,' Leo yelled from above decks. 'You coming or not? We're nearly there!'

Annabeth leaned over the rail as the _Argo __II_ emerged from the clouds. They were about a half-mile away from the camp, and could see it quite clearly.

'Well, there it is,' Jason said, breaking the silence. 'Camp Jupiter.'

'It's _huge_,' Piper breathed.

'Yeah, well, it's not just a camp. It's a whole city. You can spend ten years in the legions, then go to college, get married, have kids, live a normal life.'

'So most of the Romans have never left?' This was Leo.

'Only to go on quests, and they don't happen very often.'

'Riiight,' Annabeth said slowly. 'So, basically, hardly any of them have faced real monsters?'

'Not really, no.' At this point Thalia finally got up enough courage to look over the rail and saw how far it was to the ground.

'Gods, I hate heights,' she moaned. Jason was immediately beside her, one arm round her waist, talking calmly to her.

'It's going to be alright, Thalia. I can fly, remember? Nothing's going to happen, and even if it did, I'd catch you. Alright? You're going to be fine. I'll look after my little sis…' Thalia immediately threw off her phobia and rounded on him.

'Little sis! I was born first!' Annabeth dissolved into laughter.

'What?' Thalia and Jason both demanded.

'You sound exactly like Artemis does whenever Apollo calls her that!'

Thalia looked rather pleased at being compared to her patron goddess, but Jason just snorted and turned back to the rail.

'Looks like they've noticed we've arrived,' he remarked. The other demigods rushed to the side of the ship to catch their first glimpse of the Roman demigods (other than Jason).

The _Argo __II_ landed, to gasps from the Roman camp. Leo flicked a switch on his handheld remote and a gangplank slid out of the side of the ship. Annabeth didn't wait for anyone- she sprinted down it and skidded to a stop just in front of the crowd.

'Percy!' she screamed. 'Percy, oh gods, Percy, where the Hades are you?'

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><p><strong>Just for the record, this story will not die. I have it planned. Me, planning a story! Shock, horror, the world is ending!<strong>

**Next few chapters already wrote, so you'll at least get a Percabeth reunion scene out of it.**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

_**If you don't, I will make everyone die... mwahahaha!**_


	2. Thalia's Suspicion

**Yay! Go PolSorceress (me)! Two chaps in one night! Yeah I know this one's short, but hey! It's the thought that counts, right?**

**And yeah, I know Thalia might seem a bit OOC in this one, but I wanted to show the side that we don't normally get to see, the _human_ side of Thalia... the best example is the last chapter in SoM. You know, where she just gets out of the tree. One of the only times she ever actually appears frightened. Although she is in other bits, she doesn't show it. Yep, Thalia's cool. Thalico's _not._**

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><p>Thalia reached out to grab her friend's arm, but she was too slow. Annabeth dashed down the gangplank and into Roman territory.<p>

'Percy!' she sobbed. 'Percy, oh gods, Percy, where the Hades are you?'

Thalia bit her lip and grabbed Jason's hand for reassurance. As much as she liked to put on a brave front, seemingly bothered by nothing, seeing her best friend like this tore her apart. She'd hardly ever seen Annabeth break down like this before, and she'd never looked this fragile, not even when she was seven, lost and alone.

'Annabeth-' she started to say, but Piper stopped her.

'No, Thalia. She's got to go through with this alone.'

'But will he even remember her?'

'I don't know,' Piper sounded worried. 'Annabeth told me something once. She said Aphrodite appeared to Percy…'

'I remember that,' Thalia interrupted. 'It was on the quest to find Annabeth and Artemis, just before Bianca died. She said to stay out of her husband's graveyard.

'But she didn't just say that. She told Percy that she found the quest for true love so sweet. They were her favourite couple since Helen and Paris. She told him she wouldn't make his love life easy.'

'She wouldn't,' Thalia muttered. 'She wouldn't dare…'

'I told you, I don't know. It sounds like the sort of thing Mom would do, but I'm not sure if it's within her power. We'll just have to wait and see.'

Their conversation only took about 20 seconds, but by the time it finished, Annabeth was close to tears. She scanned the crowd desperately, muttering over and over under her breath.

'Where is he, where is he, oh gods, where is he…'

Suddenly, the crowd of Romans parted, revealing a boy of about seventeen, with messy black hair and sea-green eyes, wearing a purple toga. One of his arms was slung around the neck of a dark-skinned teenage girl with long curly hair, and the other arm was round the neck of a bulky Chinese boy. As soon as he saw Annabeth he started forwards.

'Annabeth?' he asked in a strangled gasp.

'Percy!' she screamed, and flew into his arms.

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><p><strong>Next chap definetly up sometime this week. I hope. It's half written.<strong>


	3. Percabeth

**Yay! Chapter 3 is up! I can't believe hoe many faves and reviews I've got already. Right, here goes... Thank you to *takes a deep breath* freezingpizza14, Flamepaw, anime-lover10, ShadowFlame Gabe, RomanGreekDemi, Elia L Dodd, BeautyandtheBeast101575, PercabethEternalLove, AthenaGrayEyes98, 78meg9, llamasrock123, Giselle Pink, EvilTeddyBearsonmuse, Pinky456, MoonlightPath666, HuntressofArtemis101, DaughterOfKronosPandFFanatic, PercyzBookworm, becky199756, Newbiegod35, hotkittengirl, rainydayluver, Happy Snow, 20Aphrodite11, KeepCalmAndDefyGravity, and all you others who read but didn't fave or review! Whew! All in the first few days- I guess I must be doing something right.**

**And now to answer reviews:**

**Flamepaw- Looking back on it, I guess Thalia is pretty OOC, but it's needed for something in this chapter. Thanks for all your complements!**

**AthenaGrayEyes98- Yeah, I felt like that too. I was sat at home and every couple of minutes I was basically having a screaming fit and ranting on at my parents (who haven't read PJO, but I'm working on it) about the unfairness of life and how I would have to wait another year- _ONE WHOLE YEAR-_ before the next one comes out.**

**Happy Snow- I was kinda basing Annabeth's reaction on the one she has at the beginning of Lost Hero but worse, seen as it's eight months later. And I decided to get Jason calling Thalia little sis because she kinda is- she's been a tree for however many years and a huntress for about three. Also, I thought her reaction would be funny.**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

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><p>becky1997<p>

As Percy strolled round the corner the crowd parted, and he saw the ship. Written on the side in Greek were the words _Argo __II_, and the figurehead was a bronze dragon that was somehow familiar. But Percy didn't have much time to dwell on it, because then he saw her.

She looked more fragile than she had in his dream, her face pale and close to tears, but she was so much more beautiful than he remembered.

'Annabeth?' he managed to whisper once his voice was working again.

'Percy!' she cried, running towards him. She leaped the last few metres into his arms and he staggered back slightly.

'Oh gods, Seaweed Brain,' she muttered under her breath so only he could hear. 'You have no idea how much I've missed you.'

'About as much as I've missed you, Wise Girl?' Percy suggested, tilting her head back for a kiss.

When he stopped for air, Annabeth looked up at him. 'You remember?' she asked sharply.

'You,' he said simply. 'No-one else.'

Annabeth buried her head in his chest. 'You've grown,' she murmured. It was true. In the time he'd been missing, Percy had gained a good five inches on her.

'Eight months does that to a guy,' Percy whispered back, kissing her again. Behind them, a Hispanic boy with curly black hair and grease-stained clothes- one of the Greeks- mimed gagging, but Percy didn't care. 'I missed you, Annabeth. I missed you so much.'

'I was so scared, Percy. I thought you would have a new girlfriend, like Jason and Piper.'

'Jason's the Roman guy, right? He's got a Greek girlfriend? Reyna's not going to be happy, but I don't care. I don't care about anything right now, except the fact that you're here.'

'Shall we move?' Annabeth suggested. 'People are staring. Let's go somewhere a bit more… private.'**(A/N- ****No, ****not ****for ****that ****reason! ****Dirty ****minded ****readers!)**

'Temple Hill? You could visit your mom's shrine. Well, Minerva's, but same difference.'

Annabeth entwined her fingers in his. 'Well, Seaweed Brain? What you waiting for?'

They had reached the bottom of the hill before Annabeth could say a word.

'The architecture!' she gasped. 'It's so- amazing! How long did they take to build it?'

Percy shrugged. 'One, two weeks? A couple of months at the most. When they play war games… well, Hazel, Frank and I pretty much single-handedly destroyed the fort. The next night, they had another one built, ready for the next game.'

He pointed out temples as they walked hand-in-hand. 'That one up on the top, that's the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Jupiter the best and the greatest.' Percy rolled his eyes. 'If I didn't know better, I would say someone has an inferiority complex.'

Annabeth looked at him reprovingly, although trying to hide her smirk. 'Percy, you shouldn't talk about the gods like that.'

'I wasn't,' Percy protested. 'I was talking about one god in particular. And his so-called auger. Not a patch on a real oracle, I tell you. I mean, come on. He kills Beanie Babies!'

Annabeth stopped dead. 'What?'

'I said, he kills Beanie Babies. Slits them open, pulls out the stuffing, says he's telling the future, then as soon as anything happens, he's all like, I predicted that! Aren't I so wonderful! I saw it in the stuffing!'

He said all this in a pretty good impression of Octavian and Annabeth laughed. 'Is he really like that?'

'Hell, yeah. I won't be taking you there today. Sorry, but I'm not having him insulting my girlfriend.'

'So, where's your dad's temple?'

Percy gestured expansively to the building before them. 'Welcome to Neptune's toolshed!'

'You're kidding.'

'No, honestly. The Romans have no love for my dad. Probably something to do with having a really rubbish navy. No cavalry either, which is another point against him. Anyway, that's the temple of Minerva, over there.'

Annabeth was looking at it with a strange expression on her face. 'Percy, can you… give me a bit of time alone? Just in my mom's temple. I'll call for you when I'm ready to leave.'

Percy was slightly hurt, but he didn't show it. 'Yeah that's fine. Just be quick about it, okay? The senate meeting will be starting soon, and I don't want to miss it.'

Annabeth walked off without a word and he saw her run a hand over one of the marble columns before entering. He went into Neptune's toolshed and leant against the altar.

'So that's it, is it?' he muttered darkly, staring at the three mouldy apples and a stale bagel. 'Hi, haven't seen you for eight months, missed you so much, can you leave me alone now.'

'Be patient, son,' a voice said. 'She has been waiting for so long, preparing herself for the worst, and now… she doesn't know what to think.'

Percy spun round. 'Dad!' he gasped. 'Or- are you Neptune?'

Poseidon/Neptune shrugged. 'We're one and the same, but yes, this is my Roman form.'

'It doesn't look any different to your Greek one.'

'Yes, well, the Romans have never really bothered with me. Neptune, Poseidon, I was still the god of the sea and I guess they thought there was no point in altering my appearance.'

Suddenly there was a scream from within Minerva's temple.

'Annabeth!' Percy yelled, trying to get to the door, but Neptune blocked him. 'Dad, let me past! It's Annabeth! She's hurt!'

'No, she isn't. Her mother has appeared to her, that is all. She will undoubtedly be a little… startled. Oh, and that reminds me- your senate meeting will be starting soon. You had better get down there.'

He vanished, and with that, Annabeth emerged from the temple, looking shaken.

'You all right?' Percy asked, offering her his arm.

'Yeah. I'm- I'm fine.' She touched her chest, just below her collarbone, and winced.

'What happened.'

'When mom arrived I kinda slipped,' Annabeth explained, not quite meeting his eyes, but Percy decided not to pursue it.

'Come on. It's time for you to meet the rest of the Romans.'

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><p><strong>Next chapter being written round about... NOW! It's gonna be in Piper's POV, I think, but that might change.<strong>


	4. Reyna meets Thalia

**Sorrysorrysorry! I swear on the River Styx that I tried to get this done as quick as I could but... yeah. School. Homework. Parents telling you to come off the laptop now cos it's a school night. I'm so sorry! Plus, I got halfway through the chapter in Piper's POV, then changed to Leo's, so I had to re-do the whole thing.**

**So, again, thanks to icefang72, wamakima5004, pjoroxs, hananieljoe, yashendra2797, omgitsablueberrymuffin, xoaphrodite18xo, TheJazzyDolphin, NerdyGirl4602, Blondie B., Wizzpotter, xPercyx, Sparkleurlife14, The Spirit Of Delphi, kiwihead136, 21sy4, XxXStarKidXxX, LOLbrooke, Lmb111514 and all my other readers. Thank you so much for putting up with my v. slow updates.**

**Tadaah!**

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><p>Piper stepped off the gangplank and looked round, wondering where to go and what to do. Being a daughter of Aphrodite, she was pretty good at sensing emotions, especially love. Straight in front of her were Annabeth and a guy that she guessed was Percy Jackson. They were holding hands and talking softly, occasionally kissing. As Piper watched, they exchanged a few words and started to stroll off hand in hand. The only vibe coming from <em>there<em> was love, pure and simple and in it's truest form. They were meant to be.

Smiling, Piper watched them leave then glanced round again. Over to the left- now that _was_interesting. Leo strode confidently towards the same two that Percy had come with, letting flames flicker over his hands. His attempt to impress the girl wasn't really working- she was starting to back away, looking round as though for a means of escape. The Chinese boy next to her looked close to terrified, staring at the flames. Leo reached them and said something, and the girl gasped a single word and staggered backwards. Leo frowned and shook his head, saying something else, and the Chinese guy snapped. Even Piper heard what he said.

'Get away from her! She was happy before, and you're not going to ruin her life. Get away from and don't come near her again!'

The emotions were mixed. The boy had a sort of fierce protectiveness, and Leo was just confused. The girl, though, was torn. She was good friends with the boy and maybe even loved him, but there was someone else in her life… no, there used to be. She had loved _him_, and for some reason she felt the same way about Leo.

Piper frowned. Weird… But she obviously wasn't going to go over there, so that only left one more option.

Over to the right, Jason was having a group hug with a group of kids and young adults whom she presumed was his cohort. Piper recognised people from his descriptions. Dakota, Gwen, Bobby and others.

'C'mon, Thalia,' Jason yelled to his sister. 'Come and join in!'

Thalia laughed. 'No way, Jason. You _know_ I don't do hugs. I'll probably get done by Phoebe if I do.' **(A/N-****In ****case ****you****'****ve ****forgotten, ****Phoebe ****is ****another ****Hunter, ****the ****one ****who ****was ****going ****to ****go ****on ****the ****quest to save Artemis ****before ****the ****Stoll****'****s ****gave ****her ****that ****tshirt. ****In ****The ****Lost ****Hero, ****Thalia ****mentions ****that ****she ****really ****doesn****'****t ****like ****boys. ****I****didn****'****t ****want ****to ****say ****Artemis ****because ****that ****would ****give ****away ****to ****the ****Romans ****that ****she ****was ****a ****Hunter, ****so, ****yeah.)**

Suddenly, a girl emerged from the crowd. She had a haughty expression and was wearing a purple toga, her dark hair braided with gold.

'Reyna!' Jason gasped. 'I'm sorry I left, but it was Juno's-'

'So,' Reyna sneered. 'I see our praetor's found himself a _greacus_ girlfriend.'

Thalia's electric blue eyes flashed and sparks of lightning flickered at her fingertips. Thunder rumbled in a clear sky and Piper felt the wind rise, whipping her hair and clothes around her.

'_How __dare __you?_' Thalia snarled, her silvery aura intensifying until she glowed. 'How dare you? Jason's my _brother_.'

'Half-brother, if that.' Reyna scoffed.

'No, my real brother. He is a son of Jupiter, I am the daughter of Zeus. We share the same mother. And I'm not _anyone__'__s_ girlfriend.' A flash of lightning streaked down out of a blue sky, narrowly missing Reyna. 'I am a Hunter, the lieutenant of Lady Artemis herself. I don't. Date. Anybody.'

Reyna was about to say more, but Jason stopped her.

'No, Reyna. Thalia is telling the truth. She is my sister, my full sister, and if she did date anybody, she would be dead. And why are you so jealous anyway? I remember everything, and I remember that we weren't going out at the time of my… disappearance.'

Piper heaved a sigh of relief at his words, but Reyna wasn't finished yet.

'But we could have been. Don't lie, Jason, you know it's true. We could have been together, and we would have been if it wasn't for Juno's meddling. Praetors often end up together, and we would have been no exception to the rule. Now you have returned, everything shall be as it was.' Reyna took another step forwards, her eyes fixed on Jason's face. 'Jackson and the rest of these Greeks can go back to where they belong, and you will be reinstated as praetor. You will take your rightful place beside me, and we can finish what we nearly began.'

'I'm sorry, Reyna,' Jason said firmly. 'But that won't happen, for two reasons.'

'And those reasons…?'

'Will become clear at the senate meeting. Percy Jackson and I will discuss the matter of praetorship between us- privately.'


	5. Leo's Luck

**See? I updated quicker this time. Thank you to Annabeth Athena Chase, my (unofficial) beta. Just so you know, _gran-abuelo_ is Spanish for great-grandad. According to Google Translate. Apologies to any Spanish-speaking readers out there who I have offended with my abysmal language skills.**

**Here you go, Annabeth Athena Chase, the chapter I promised you. Your ideas *wink wink* should be coming up either next chapter or the one after.**

**Thank you to Vogelvrij, Danwarnes, yashendra2797, Drew1969, mischiefmanagedx, DaugherOfNyx10, IsisBlueberry, leonia the leo, ThaliaGrace123, pjoroxs, Percabeth03, NinaRutter, iStoleYourBlueMoonIceCream, Rangersunrider, wolflover274, DaynaLanza2, Little-miss-laughs-alot and all my other readers.**

**I thank you for your reviews and apologise for chapter shortness. I try to get them up as fast as I can, so that means cutting down on length. Soz.**

**And on with the story!**

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><p>He had, Leo thought bitterly, the worst luck in the world. Maybe it was Hephaestus' curse striking again. He didn't know. What he did know, however, was that he fell in love with every pretty girl he saw, so long as she was completely out of his league.<p>

First, there had been Khione. Goddess of snow and fire-starting son of Hephaestus? He should have known it wouldn't work out well. But still Leo had tried to impress her, totally bewitched, and now they were mortal- or immortal- enemies. Oh well. She had tried to kill him, after all.

Next, Thalia. Jason's sister, a Hunter, sworn off boys for life. Doomed before it started.

'_So__… __the __Hunters __of __Artemis. __This __whole__ "__not __dating__" __thing- __is __that __like _always _or __is __it __more __of __a __seasonal __thing?__'_

All that chat-up line had done was make him look like a fool for ever, but he was over it. Now Leo had _two_ objects on which to focus his affections. First, Reyna. Damn, but that girl was _hot_! And she wasn't a goddess or a Hunter, either, so he might stand a chance. Or, judging by how possessive she was of Jason, maybe not. And that other girl… who was she?

Leo considered what had happened earlier. He had strolled towards her and the boy, trying to impress her with fire. It had worked for most of the girls back at camp, at least until they realised how annoying he was. This girl, on the other hand, had seemed… scared? Surely not. It had looked like she was trying to run away, one hand clutching the pocket of her coat. The boy next to her had looked even more scared, and seemed to be trying not to grab whatever it was out of her coat pocket and make a run for it.

When Leo reached them he smiled lazily. 'What are you running from?' he asked. 'I'm not that ugly, am I?'

The girl reeled backwards, and the guy caught her. 'Sa-Sammy?' she asked, voice trembling.

Leo frowned. 'No. I'm Leo, Leo Valdez. The only Sammy I know was my _gran-abuelo_, my great-grandpa. He died when I was five.'

The girl staggered, and the Chinese boy started yelling. 'Get away from her! She was happy before, and you're not going to ruin her life. Get away from and don't come near her again!'

Leo stepped back. 'I don't what you're talking about. I'm Leo Valdez, not Sammy, and I've never met you before in my life. But if you're going to be like _that_, then I won't talk to you again, either of you. Like I said, I don't know what the Hades you're on about, but…' He didn't finish his sentence and simply waked away.

Leo pulled himself back to the present and hurried to catch up with Jason. He and Reyna were engaged in an awkward silence on the way to the senate house.

'Jason,' Leo said. 'Can I talk to you? Just for a sec?'

'Yeah, of course.' Jason dropped back to talk to Leo and let Reyna walk on ahead. 'Thanks for getting me out of there. Anyway, what was it you needed to ask?'

'That girl. Who is she?'

'What girl? Leo, try and be a bit more precise, will you?'

'You know, the one I was talking to. Dark skin, curly hair, gold eyes. Got a stick-man tattooed on her arm.'

'First, that's not a stick-man. That's the symbol of Pluto, god of the underworld.'

'Like Hades. Right. So, she's the daughter of Pluto?'

Jason nodded. 'The only child of Pluto at camp. She started camp only a few weeks before I disappeared. Her name… is Hazel Levesque.'

At those words, Leo remembered something, a story his mother had told him about a year after his great-grandad had died.

'Once,' she had said softly. 'Your _gran-abuelo_, Sammy, he loved a girl. She had curly hair and gold eyes, and they used to go riding together. They were out riding on the girl's thirteenth birthday. The 17th December, 1941. The girl rode ahead, and _abuelo_ had to gallop to keep up. They shared birthday cake, and a kiss.'

'A kiss?'

'Yes. Just a small one, on the cheek, but a kiss nonetheless. The next day, Sammy was planning to ask her out, to ask her to become his girlfriend. But he never saw her again.'

'Never? Not ever in his life?'

'No. She and her mother moved house that very night, no-one knows where to. Eventually, _abuelo_ gave up hope. He married another woman, had children, but he never forgot the gold-eyed girl.'

'What was her name, mamá? Who was she?'

'The girl's name was Hazel. Hazel Levesque.'


	6. I Hear You Been Hitting On My Boyfriend

**Yay! Next chapter up! I'm so sorry, guys. A month since this was updated... I'm so sorry! I had major writer's block on this chapter, but I think it turned out all right.**

**Thank you to: omgitsablueberrymuffin, Annabeth Athena Chase, William Solace, iStoleYourBlueMoonIceCream, freezingpizza14, Silex Wordweaver, Krissie Daughter of Iris, Harry Potter 101, TheWorldBookGirl, Cara Bickett, Happy Snow, Cambria Baxter, Athena's Brain Girl, DughterofPosiedon1998, AeshaKMae, fairygirl2468, daedae26, and all my other readers.**

**A very special THANK YOU to Annabeth Athena Chase, my now-official beta and fountain of ideas. _No,_ Brittain. There will be no Thalico.**

**This is my version of what the Mark of Athena really is. Send in your translations!**

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><p>Annabeth glanced down at her boyfriend's hand, his fingers entwined in hers. The last eight months had been hell on earth but now, maybe, it would be heaven.<p>

'_Annabeth. __You __must __come __to __my __temple._' She glanced over at Percy, but it was obvious that it wasn't he who had spoken. For one thing, it had been a woman's voice. And it had been in her head.

'_Mother?_' she thought as loudly as she could. '_Is __that __you?_'

'_Yes, __my __child,_' Athena replied. '_Come __to __me._'

Annabeth glanced over at Percy. 'Can you… give me a bit of time alone? Just in my mom's temple. I'll call for you when I'm ready to leave.'

Percy looked slightly annoyed but he grinned all the same. 'Yeah that's fine. Just be quick about it, okay? The senate meeting will be starting soon, and I don't want to miss it.'

'_Hurry __up!_' Annabeth turned and hurried away without saying anything. She paused outside the temple for a second, admiring the architecture, before walking inside. When her eyes were used to the gloom she made out the figure of a stately woman, dark haired and grey eyed, wearing a white Roman stola trimmed with blue.

'Mom!'

'I'm sorry, Annabeth, but we do not that much time to talk. The senate meeting will be starting soon, and you don't want to miss it. I know these last few months have been hard on you-'

'You have no idea.'

'Yes, Annabeth, I do. I feel the pain of all my children. All the gods do,' Minerva closed her eyes briefly. 'I wish I didn't have to do this.'

'Do what?'

Minerva reached out and touched her daughter on the shoulder, then pressed the pad of her thumb into her chest, just below her collarbone.

'_Mark __ego __vobis __in __nomine __Athena_,' she murmered. '_Tibi __benedictionem __Minerva__. __Panis __vera __via __ducit __te._'

A burning pain spread outwards from where Minerva had touched her and Annabeth heard someone scream. It took her a second to realise it was her. As soon as the pain had come, it was gone, and there was simply a dull ache in her shoulder.

'I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm so sorry. I wish I didn't have to do that, but it was necassary. And remember- you must tell no-one of this until the time is right.'

'And how will I know that?'

'Believe me, you will. Promise me, Annabeth. Swear on the River Styx.'

'I- I swear on the River Styx to tell no-one until the time is right.'

Minerva smiled. 'Thank you, Annabeth. I know you must hate me for what I have done, but someday, you will know it had to be done. Goodbye.' And with that, she vanished.

Annabeth left the temple, heart pounding. What were the words Minerva had said? _Mark __ego __vobis __in __nomine __Athena_. _Tibi __benedictionem __Minerva__. __Panis __vera __via __ducit __te. _What did it mean?

Percy looked slightly worried, but he smiled when he saw her.

'You all right?' he asked.

Annabeth took his hand. 'Yeah. I'm- I'm fine.' She squeezed his hand, liking his reassuring grasp, and he swung his arm slightly as they began to walk. A burning pain shot down her arm at the movement and she gasped in pain, lightly touching her chest.

'What happened?' Percy asked, stopping and turning to face her.

Annabeth opened her mouth to tell him, but the words she wanted wouldn't come out. What she said instead was 'When mom arrived I kinda slipped.' Annabeth frowned slightly. Obviously the promise she had made meant that she couldn't tell anyone even if she wanted to.

Percy looked suspicious, but he didn't ask further.

'Come on. It's time for you to meet the rest of the Romans.'

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The senate meeting was… eventful. To say the least. It had been fine to start with, Percy willingly relinquishing the praetorship to Jason. He had sat with Annabeth in the front row, one hand holding hers. He hadn't let go during the whole Reyna vs. Piper face-off **(A/N: ****I****'****m ****afraid ****you****'****ll ****have ****to ****wait ****for ****the ****nex****t ****chapter ****to ****find ****out ****what ****happens! ****But ****don****'****t ****worry-****I****'****ve ****already ****got ****it ****planned.)** and at the end, he murmured, 'I'm sorry, but I don't have much sympathy for Reyna right now. After all, she didn't seem too bothered about having relationships a week ago…' He trailed off as he realised he was talking to his girlfriend.

Annabeth swivelled to face him, forcing Percy to meet her eyes.

'What did she do?'

'Nothing, Annabeth, I swear. She didn't – _we_ didn't – do anything.'

'So what did she say? Tell me, Percy, or I swear I'll… I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be pretty, and you won't enjoy it.'

'Nothing bad, I promise. Just…' He muttered something under his breath that Annabeth couldn't quite catch.

'What was that?' she inquired dangerously.

Percy shifted uncomfortably.

'She asked me to become praetor. I think she wanted to… you know, go out with me. She never actually said it, but the way she was talking made me think… well, that.'

'That little κυνώ! How dare she!' **(A/N: ****You ****can ****probably ****guess ****what ****that ****means. ****Hey, ****at ****least ****I ****put ****it ****in ****Greek.)**

'Annabeth, seriously, calm down! I told her I already had a girlfriend, nothing happened!'

Annabeth ignored him, pulling her hand from his and standing up.

'I'm sorry, Percy,' she said calmly. 'This will only take a second.'

She caught up with Reyna the main plaza. The forum, she decided it was called.

_Great,_ Annabeth thought. _Just __great. __The __most __public __place __in __the __whole __camp. __But __oh, __well. __After __all, __I _do _want __people __to __hear __what __I__'__ve __got __to __say._

Annabeth slid her celestial bronze knife out of the sheath on her forearm and blew a speck of dust off the tip. She strolled forwards, casually tossing the knife up and catching it again.

'Hey!' she called.

'The dark-haired girl turned round, purple cloak sweeping along the floor.

'Reyna, isn't it?'

'Yes,' she replied coolly. 'I'm sorry, I don't know yours. I don't bother learning the names of _graecui_.' **(A/N: ****That ****is ****the ****plural ****of ****greacus, ****right? ****I ****wasn****'****t ****sure.)**

Annabeth felt her temper rise, but she kept it in check.

'So,' she said. 'I hear you've been hitting on my boyfriend.'

Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw Percy bury his head in his hands.

'Oh, gods,' she heard him mutter, then, raising his voice, he said, 'Annabeth, don't. She's not worth it.'

'Not worth it?' Reyna sneered. 'As if. I'm worth far more than your blonde bimbo of a girlfriend here. She's the one that's worthless. Bothered asking her how many guys she's kissed since you last saw her? And I bet kissing isn't the worst of it either.'

'Mistake,' Percy murmured.

This time, Annabeth didn't bother keeping her temper under control. She caught her knife and held it ready.

'How dare you?' she snarled. 'If that's what you think of me than what does that make you? You have a go at Jason for getting a girlfriend when you were never together in the first place, and as soon as another hot boy comes along you start hitting on him! How many have you got through since _you_ came here? Is it the looks you go for, or is it just power? Yeah, right. You can talk. If you dare say another word…'

In fact, Reyna said three.

'Aurum!' she called. 'Argentum!' She pointed at Annabeth. 'Attack.'

The gold and silver greyhounds leapt from their place beside the praetor's chairs, dashed through the doors, and launched themselves at Annabeth.

'No!' Percy yelled, but he was too far away to do anything. Annabeth brought her knife up in a futile attempt at self-defence. She knew the last thing she saw would be gold and silver claws, and Reyna's face, triumphant.

'Stop!' Jason came from nowhere, throwing himself in front of her. The dogs, as obedient to him as they were to Reyna, skidded to a halt.

'Go back,' Jason commanded them, and they slunk away.

Percy rushed over. 'Annabeth, are you okay? Did they get you? Do you need any ambrosia, nectar?'

'I'm fine.' Annabeth stood up, a little shakily, and walked over to where Jason was confronting Reyna.

'I can't believe you, Reyna. I supported your election to praetor. I thought you were sensible, that you didn't judge people before you knew them, that you were better than this. I was wrong. One Greek has been in this camp already. He has done nothing but good since the moment he arrived. He saved your sorry skin, and right now I don't know whether to be glad or annoyed about that. The Greeks have treated me with courtesy and kindness, and even when they found out that I was Roman, they didn't judge me for it. I brought them here hoping you would treat them the same way, but it seems I was wrong. You insulted my sister, and believe me, if you'd said much else you would be in hospital now with lighting burns from both of us. You insulted my girlfriend, who had done nothing to you. You tried to _kill_ the girlfriend of the guy who saved this camp. I'm ashamed of you, Reyna, and right now I'm ashamed to call myself a Roman.'

He turned and walked away, and Reyna was too shaken to do anything but stand there and stare after him. Before Annabeth led Percy away, she walked up to Reyna.

'This isn't over,' she said in a deadly undertone. 'You and me, out on the field, one-on-one. A fair fight. And let's see how well you fare with no little pets to help you out, shall we?' She smiled, a cold fierce smile, then turned away. 'Come on, Percy. Let's go back to the ship.' Annabeth cast a bitter glance back at Reyna. 'Away from would-be murderers.' Then she turned and walked away, and silence fell.


	7. The Senate Meeting

**Yesssss! Finally! Oh, gods, I'm so sorry guys. I don't really have an excuse, I guess, but for the first few weeks I had total writer's block, and then for the life of me I just couldn't figure out the middle bit of this. I had up to the start of the meeting, and I had the end, but I couldn't work out what the conversation in the middle was supposed to be. So...**

**Thank you to daedae26, Blondie B. Happy, Meetmsrandompickles, flowerpower2528, Tooznot, BRILL WILL, beyzmarasli, i', tmcourtney123, YoungestGod-DaughterOfArtemis, Coaloki, olympian16, 3rd Bookworm, and all my othe readers who have stayed with me throughout my...uh...unfortunate lapse in writing.**

**YoungestGod-DaughterOfArtemis: Yeah, about that... I chose a nice, mystic phrase, put it into google translate, translated it into Latin, translated it _back_... And that's the result. That's not the actual blessing, honest.**

**Thanks to my amazing beta, Annabeth Athena Chase, who has given me several epic ideas for the next few chapters.**

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><p>Jason wasn't impressed. However much he'd grown to like Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter was, and always would be, his home. He didn't know what he's expected when he decided to bring the Greeks, but it certainly wasn't this. There was an air of… something. Anger? No, not quite. But it certainly wasn't like how he left it. For one thing, Reyna, would never have had blasted off like that at Thalia for no reason.<p>

He felt irrationally annoyed by it all, but managed to shake it off.

'I call a senate meeting,' he said firmly. 'I will explain everything there. Come with me, Reyna.' It wasn't a request.

However, he regretted his decision when he quickly realised that there was nothing to talk about. Every attempt at conversation was met with monosyllabic answers or stony silence. Eventually he just gave up.

So it was with great relief that he saw Leo approach.

'Jason,' Leo said. 'Can I talk to you? Just for a sec?'

'Yeah, of course.' Jason dropped back to talk to Leo and let Reyna walk on ahead. 'Thanks for getting me out of there. Anyway, what was it you needed to ask?'

'That girl. Who is she?'

'What girl?' Jason sighed heavily. 'Leo, try and be a bit more precise, will you?'

'You know, the one I was talking to. Dark skin, curly hair, gold eyes. Got a stick-man tattooed on her arm.'

Jason rolled his eyes 'First, that's not a stick-man. That's the symbol of Pluto, god of the underworld.'

'Like Hades. Right. So, she's the daughter of Pluto?'

Jason nodded. 'The only child of Pluto at camp. Her name… is Hazel Levesque.' He wasn't expecting Leo's reaction.

'How old is she?' he asked frantically.

Jason blinked. 'Uh, I don't know. She came just before I left. About thirteen, I think, or thereabouts.'

Leo seemed to be in his own world for a second. 'How?' he muttered. 'Seriously, how can this happen?'

Jason gestured aimlessly. 'Well, if you don't need me for anything else, I've got a senate meeting to organise with a very uncooperative praetor.'

'What? Oh, right, yeah. Go on.'

Jason caught up with Reyna just as she was entering the senate house. With a sigh, he took his seat and gazed out over the tiered rows of benches. His gaze panned out over familiar faces- Reyna, Hazel, Leo, Frank, Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Dakota, all the others from the Fifth Cohort.

Reyna stepped up to the podium. 'I call this meeting of the senate to order!'

Jason moved to stand beside her. 'Let's not bother wasting time. The camp- both the camps- are in danger.'

'They _were_ in danger,' Reyna argued. 'The legions of Camp Jupiter have completely annihilated Gaia's army.'

'That wasn't Gaia's army,' Jason said firmly. 'That was just the vanguard. If they destroyed the camp, that would have been a bonus, but they didn't. Gaia knew that might happen, and she was prepared. There are more monsters out there, and for all we know she may have subverted demigods to her, the way Kronos did.' He noticed the look of confusion on the faces of the Romans and quickly explained what had happened in the last war.

Reyna leant forwards, frowning. 'You know, it would've made a lot more sense if we'd worked together.'

'The way I see it, that wouldn't have worked. Kronos couldn't have died while Mt. Othrys stood, but the home of the Titans couldn't have fallen unless their king was dead. Everything happened just as it was meant to. The Greeks and the Romans, they don't really get along.' He told them all what Chiron had explained, about how the last time the Greeks and Romans got mixed up it caused a civil war.

'That's it, then,' Octavian declared. 'The Greeks must return to their camp. We can ill-afford another battle.'

'No!' Jason banged his fist down on the podium. 'You're meant to be the auger, Octavian. Don't you see? The Prophecy of Seven is being put into motion _now_. And it contains Greeks as well as Romans.'

'What?' Octavian sounded stunned. 'But… the prophecy is written in Latin.'

Percy stood up. 'A prophecy was made by the Oracle at camp, about a year ago. It was the same prophecy as is written in the temple of Jupiter. You can't deny the truth, Octavian. You may hate the Greeks, but you need us to help save the world, just like we need you to help. For the first time in over a century, Greeks and Romans _must_ work together… or we will all die.' His point made, Percy sat down, slipping an arm around Annabeth's shoulders.

Reyna tried a different tack. 'Seeing as you know so much about this, Jason, why don't you tell us who the Seven are, huh?'

'Easy. Well, six of them are, anyway. Me, Hazel and Frank from Camp Jupiter, and Percy, Piper and Leo from Camp Half-Blood. We've all faced Gaia before, and we've all gone on separate quests to thwart her. But as to who the seventh is… I really have no idea. It's probably either Thalia or Annabeth, or maybe you, Reyna.'

'Piper and Leo,' Reyna mused. 'You said you'd tell me about your quest with them later. How about now, or are you too scared to tell everyone what happened?'

Again, this wasn't like Reyna, but Jason put it down to the fact that the camp had only been invaded the other day, and now everything was happening at once.

With help from the other two, he gave everyone the low-down on their quest.

'And that's how it happened,' he finished, shooting an almost triumphant glance over at Reyna. _What is happening to me? What is happening to camp?_

Reyna leant forwards. 'And you say you two are going out now?'

He and Piper exchanged glances, but she was the one that spoke.

'Uh… in a way, I guess. We've never actually… you know, but we've come pretty close to it a few times.'

'Really?' Reyna's tone was deadly cold and quiet. 'I heard in that little story of yours that you were a daughter of Venus.'

'Aphrodite,' Jason heard Piper mutter, but Reyna continued.

'Tell me, how long did it take for you to charm-speak Jason into loving you?'

'What?' Jason was astounded. 'Reyna, she hasn't-'

'I didn't charm-speak him,' Piper said, her voice surprisingly steady. 'I swear on the River Styx, and in the names of all the gods, that I have only ever used charm-speak on Jason twice. Once to stop him from killing his best friend, and once to bring him back from the dead.' Her voice rose until she was almost yelling. 'So stop presuming stuff, because you don't even know me! So what if I love Jason? It's none of your business, and it doesn't concern you! Even if he doesn't love me back, I would never, _never_, use my gifts to subvert my friends. Ever!'

Jason felt fury well up in him. It was strange, uncontrollable rage, feeling as though it shouldn't belong in his body. But he couldn't control it, and he found himself yelling.

'I do love Piper! So what? It doesn't concern you! And she hasn't been using charm-speak. I'll even prove it.'

Feeling strangely heady, Jason stood and walked over to Piper.

'Jason,' she muttered to him. 'Something isn't right…' Jason took another step and gripped Piper's shoulders. 'Jason?' she asked again, sounding slightly confused. 'What are you doing?'

Jason leant forwards and silenced her with a kiss. He felt himself pulling her closer, and resisted the urge to go further with it. It was a strange urge, a primal urge- and it was wrong. Crystal-clear clarity flowed through him, and he pulled sharply away. Piper's eyes were wide, staring at him. She looked almost… scared.

'Oh, gods,' Jason muttered. 'What have I done? Piper, what have I done?'

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><p><strong>And to all you out there who are thinking things like "Oh, so-and-so's acting really OOC, I'm going to send a flame"- not mentioning any names, there, joybella *gives evil eyes* but it's kinda <em>because<em> of that flame that I haven't updated in 3 months... Right. Getting off track there. Don't flame me because that OOCness is crucial to the story. I know they're OOC, they're _meant_ to be OOC, so just bear with. OK?**


	8. Realization

**Heyy, I updated quicker this time! You can thank Annabeth Athena Chase for that, and her abuse of me at school! *smirks* So, yeah. Not the longest I've ever done, but I like it. Cookie to whoever guesses who "she" is!, Actually, half a cookie, 'cos it's kinda pretty obvious, but whatever!**

**Thank you to squirrelLOVA, MB4125, Danielle daughter of Zeus, Number1Bookwork, InfectedWithNargles, Blaster321, Blondie B. Happy, olympusgirl12, Miette in the Rain, PercyJackson'sFaveDemigodSister, and all my other readers.**

**Special thanks to squirrelLOVA for your messages. We victims stand together! And to Annabeth Athena Chase, my beta and concience. (Did I spell that right?)**

**On with the story!**

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><p>Piper stared up at Jason, her eyes wide. <em>He kissed me. Jason actually kissed me. In front of the whole senate!<em> She sent out a desperate thought. _Mom, was this you?_ No reply. Jason bit his lip hard. It looked like it was bleeding, but Piper didn't think he cared.

'Oh, gods,' he whispered. 'What have I done? Piper, what have I done?'

'Jason-' she began, but Jason shook his head slightly.

'Piper, I'm sorry. It was… I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't want to…'

'It's okay,' Piper said softly, hating the catch in her voice. 'Jason, it's fine. I- I understand.'

Turning, she walked away. _Keep you head held high,_ Piper told herself. _You're a daughter of Aphrodite. You're a Greek. Show them you're strong._ She got out of the building and around the corner before she gave in. Piper slumped down, hugging her knees to her chest, and let the hot tears fall.

'I know how you feel,' said a voice from beside her. Piper raised her head to see a girl, a couple of years younger then herself, sat there.

'You're…' Piper frowned, trying to remember. 'You're Hazel, aren't you?'

'Hazel Levesque, and you're Piper McLean.' Hazel raised an eyebrow. 'I'm guessing Jason told you about me?'

'Mmm-hmm,' Piper managed, then sighed, scrubbing the unshed tears away with the heels of her hands. 'Sorry to be so self-pitying and everything, but, you know…'

'Yeah,' Hazel agreed wryly. 'I know. Boys, huh?'

Piper snorted. 'Don't tell me about it. Jason… well, we were sort of going out. Not officially, but… yeah. I mean, I loved him. Not just fancied him, but actually, properly _loved_ him. I thought that he felt the same way, fool that I was, but obviously not.'

'Explain,' Hazel said firmly. 'It gets better when you tell someone else.'

'Alright,' Piper said dubiously. 'I'll give it a try. So, basically, I loved him, thought he loved me. We've kissed a few times, but only in private. Just then… I thought he was finally admitting it, you know? But then he just kept saying that it was an accident and that he didn't mean to do it.' Piper sighed again. 'To be honest, I don't know if he was using me to prove a point.'

'Tell me about it,' Hazel muttered. 'There's a guy I used to fancy, and now there's a guy who fancies me who's his spitting images _and_ his great-grandson. Then there's this other guy that fancies me and… yeah. It's confusing.' When she'd finished explaining everything, Piper frowned.

'That's not like Leo. He's hyper, yeah, totally crazy- but not like that. No-one's acting like they should.'

'No, they're not,' Hazel agreed. 'Reyna's never like that. She's hot-tempered, calculating sometimes, but not _that_ hot-tempered. Frank didn't seem right either.'

'Neither did Jason. He wasn't himself. No-one has been, ever since we landed.'

'Ever since the Greeks and the Romans were together again for the first time in a century,' Hazel mused. 'Do you think it's something to do with that? Last time it happened, it caused a civil war.'

'No. this is bigger then that. This is bigger then anything we've ever known. And I think I know exactly what's causing it… or should I say _who_.' Piper quickly explained her idea. Hazel stared at her.

'…Of course! I should have thought of that in the first place. It's exactly the sort of thing she would do.'

'Yes,' Piper agreed. 'Why bother attacking us when she can let us tear each other apart?'

'We need to call another senate meeting,' Hazel decided. 'Then you can tell everyone what's been going on.'

'No. We're going to call another meeting, and _you're_ going to tell everyone what's been going on.'

'What?' Hazel yelped. 'Me? But…'

'You've been on a quest. You've faced her twice before, which is more than most people. And you're a Roman, which is more than me. You're the saviour of the camp, Hazel. People will listen to you, believe you. Which is more than they will me. You have to, Hazel, please. For everyone.'

Hazel gave a long-suffering sigh. 'Fine. But if I can't convince them, will you?'

Piper laughed. 'Only if I have to. Reyna'll probably accuse me of using charm-speak again. Besides, I won't need to. The camp will listen to you.'

As they left, a thought came into her head. _They'd better. They'd better listen. They'd better believe. Because if they don't, we're all going to die._

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><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	9. The Big Reveal

**Heyy! It's me once more! Yeah, I'm trying to update faster now. I'm not gonna set a limit, like, "_I will update every week_" cos I know that if I do that than I will totally fail. I fail at deadlines in general. Like finishing stuff off at school during lunch when it's in for next lesson and we had about 3 weeks to do it. Nahh, I haven't done that at all *koffkoff*. I actually haven't, but I come pretty close to it occaisionally.**

**I really won't blame you if you didn't read all that rambling up there. I been having chocolate! :-D**

**So, here's thanks to LeoValdezluver, Little-miss-laughs-alot, Miette in the Rain, Pinky456, Blondie B. Happy, percypotterfanatic, olympusgirl12, ThaliaAndNicoForEver, rachel3athena, percabethlova101, 3rd Bookworm, PjsRock14, EPICThunder, Michelle Canada, and all my other readers.**

**Q&A time!**

**3rd Bookworm: Read on! All will be revealed!**

**rachel3athena: 1) Jasper all the way! I'm gonna make stuff hard for them, but it'll all turn out right in the end. 2) Things are probably going to start picking up in this chapter and the next few. I already got them planned even if they aren't written.**

**Thanks for all your support guys! Review! That's what makes me update quicker!**

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><p>Hazel took a deep breath. <em>It has to be me, <em>she thought. _Piper was right. They won't listen to her, but they will me._ She approached the lone figure slowly.

Cautiously, she said 'Reyna?'

'What?' Reyna snapped. 'Whatever nonsense this is, Hazel, I don't have time for it.'

'We've got to call a senate meeting. Now.'

'And why have "we" got to do anything?'

'Please, Reyna,' Hazel begged. 'The camp is in danger.'

'From what? Those oh _so_ precious Greeks of yours?'

Hazel gritted her teeth, trying not to yell. 'Don't be like this, Reyna. The safety of the camp always comes first, in front of any personal issues. _Always_.'

Reyna looked distant for a second, then a strange look came over her face, as though she was struggling with something inside of herself. She closed her eyes for an instant, and when she opened them, something that had been there before was gone.

'You're right,' Reyna said softly. 'I'm sorry, Hazel.' It seemed as though she was forcing the words out. 'I don't know what's been happening to me these last few hours, but… You're right. You are sure that something is endangering the camp?'

'Yes,' Hazel said firmly. 'I'm sure.'

'Fine.' Reyna turned and strode away, calling for a meeting.

Fifteen minutes later, Hazel stepped up to the praetor's podium, her mouth dry. Every eye was upon her. Hazel swallowed and began.

'I have requested this meeting because the camp is in danger-'

'Yes!' Octavian shrieked before she could speak further. 'It is the accursed Greeks!'

Nearby, Hazel could see Piper strangling an invisible neck. The sight made her smirk slightly, and she continued.

'No, Octavian. Camp Jupiter has been infiltrated, and not by the Greeks. Who is the greatest enemy of all? Who has orchestrated all this from the very beginning? Who knows that, once the Seven have come together, her fate is sealed?' hazel was staring to enjoy herself now. 'Let's think, shall we? Who would stand to gain when we tear each other apart from the inside out?' She paused a second to let it sink in. 'Gaia. That's who. Do you really think she wouldn't try any underhand tricks? That she'd just _let_ us come together? Gaia is messing with our minds.'

'And why isn't it happening to you?' a voice yelled that Hazel vaguely recognised as belonging to one of the 1st Cohort.

'Because she's faced Gaia enough times to recognise her work and resist it.' Piper stepped up to stand beside Hazel. 'And I can resist it because charm-speak and stuff like it doesn't work on me. We figured this out together, and you lot know it's true.'

'Gaia is mainly focussing on the important ones from both camps- the ones the others will follow. Reyna certainly has a temper at times, but she would never say or do any of the things she has in the last few hours. And, Frank-' Hazel turned to him. 'You aren't acting right either. No-one is!'

'Neither is Annabeth,' Piper continued. 'Or Leo- or Jason for that matter. If we fight each other, then Gaia wins. We can't let that happen. _Ever_.'

'This is nonsense!' Octavian yelled. 'It is a fabrication of the-'

'Don't tell me,' a new voice drawled. 'A fabrication of the Greeks.'

The crowd parted to reveal Thalia. She had left straight after the last meeting, and no-one knew where she had gone.

'Thalia!' Jason exclaimed. 'Where have you _been_?'

She waved a hand vaguely. 'Off. Somewhere. Places. But my point is that for my part, I believe them. It seems like something Gaia would do.'

Annabeth and Percy stood up together. 'We believe them,' Annabeth said firmly. 'Earlier, it felt like something was… not controlling me, exactly, but more influencing me. Making me do things I wouldn't do otherwise.'

'Same here,' Jason agreed. He didn't say anything more, but Hazel noticed that he was trying not to catch Piper's eye.

'And here!' Leo piped up. Hazel studied him out of the corner of her eye. He was the spitting image of Sammy, but there was something _off_ about him. He glanced over at her, and Hazel quickly looked away.

Suddenly, as one, the whole of the 5th Cohort stood. 'Hazel's one of us,' Dakota said simply. 'We believe her.'

Hazel looked over at Frank, who gave her the small, shy smile she found so cute on him.

'_I believed you from the start_,' he mouthed, and Hazel smiled back.

From the veteran's area at the back, Gwen stood up. 'I came back from the dead,' she said with a shrug. 'After that, I'll believe anything.' Hazel thought it best not to mention her own resurrection right now.

Slowly, one by one or in small groups, the rest of the senate stood. The 1st Cohort were the last, but they obviously didn't want to be the odd ones out. Then, finally, only two were left seated. Everyone waited with bated breath. If Reyna didn't stand now, everything would be for nothing.

Slowly, slowly, she rose to her feet. 'I believe,' Reyna said simply. 'And I apologise.'

Now all eyes turned to Octavian. He folded his arms stubbornly.

'I'm not moving.'

He looked so much like a petulant child that Hazel had to laugh.

'That's alright, Octavian. I don't think anyone expected you to.'


	10. Demigod Dreams

**Hey, I've finally updated! To all you faithful readers out there, thank you for staying with me, especially those of you who have favourited/alerted or reviewed. That is, Maisie1995, mkc120, pjoroxs, drizzleluver, chaosthelordofall, olympusgirl12, Safree, kkawesome101, Reyna Rocks, PercabethandThalicoLover, naynay678, rockfan5912, Prateek behera, and everyone else!**

**Note about the blessing: I translated it from English to Latin. However, it doesn't quite turn out right when you translate it back. Oh, well! Just take me at my word- that's what it's supposed to mean.**

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><p>Annabeth listened to Hazel and Piper's explanation in silence. <em>Yes,<em> she thought. _It all makes sense now._ But despite paying attention to what was going on, she felt her mind drifting back to what Minerva had said in the temple. _Mark __ego __vobis __in __nomine __Athena_. _Tibi __benedictionem __Minerva__. __Panis __vera __via __ducit __te. _What did it mean? And more importantly, perhaps, what would would it mean for her?

Annabeth shifted position slightly, the collar of her orange t-shirt just rubbing against the ache on her chest. She had managed to examine it while she was waiting for the second meeting to start. A small brand, similar to those which the Romans had on their arms, except for the fact that it was in the shape of an owl.

She looked up as Thalia entered. _Something's up with her,_ she thought, but didn't say anything. Annabeth knew that her friend wouldn't do anything bad, but decided to be on the safe side and have a word with her later. She glanced over at Percy, still holding her hand.

'What do you think,' she asked quietly. 'Is Gaia behind it all?'

Percy nodded. 'Yeah. Definetly. I don't know why I haven't seen it before.'

'Because Gaia was influencing us. C'mon, let's show our support.'

They both stood up at the same time. 'We believe them,' Annabeth said, mainly to Hazel and Piper, but so that everyone else could hear. 'Earlier, it felt like something was… not controlling me, exactly, but more influencing me. Making me do things I wouldn't do otherwise.'

They watched in satisfaction as the rest of the Greeks- and Romans- stood. When the meeting was over **(A/N- I really couldn't be bothered to type out the whole meeting again)** Annabeth turned to Percy.

'Hey, d'you know where I could find a dictionary? Either Latin-English or Latin-Greek?'

'No, but I know who will.' Percy glanced round. 'Gwen!'

A girl in her late teens strolled over. Annabeth recognised her as one of those who had stood up for Hazel and Piper.

'Gwen, this is Annabeth,' Percy introduced. 'Annabeth, this is Gwen, otherwise known as Centurion Shish Kebab.'

Annabeth blinked at him in confusion. 'What?'

'As nicknamed by Mars,' Gwen explained. 'Don't ask.'

'O-kay,' Annabeth said slowly. 'I won't. Anyway, I need to ask something. Do you know where I could get a dictionary? A Latin-Greek one?'

'Yeah, sure. There's a library down in the city, just on the outskirts. You can't miss it. Says "Bibliotheca" on the front.' **(A/N- Again, trusting Google Translate. Apparently, it means library.)**

Annabeth thanked her, and turned to Percy. 'Are you coming?'

'Yeah, of course.'

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Annabeth threw the book down in frustration. According to this, the blessing could mean one of two things. Neither of them made sense. It was either "_Mark you, I bless you in the name Athena, Minerva. The bread is the way it leads you," _or "_I should be your m__ark __in the name of __Athena__, __thee the blessing of __the wise. __The bread __is __the way __it leads __you_."

Percy appeared beside her. 'What's up?'

'Nothing. I'm looking for something, and it's not there, that's all. Something-' She glanced round, checking that no-one was there. 'Something mom said to me in Latin.'

'If she said it, then maybe you shouldn't be looking in that book,' Percy suggested. 'I mean, that's modern Latin, or as modern as a dead language gets. Maybe try one that's got older Latin in.'

_Yes._ Sometimes, Percy acted so goofy it was easy to forget that he could be smart when he wanted to be.

'You came up with the idea, you find me the book.'

It was about five minutes before they found one. A large, leather-bound book, with stiff, brittle pages, the title embossed on the front in gold, in both Latin and Greek. And finally, after half an hour of searching, she found the answer.

_I mark you in the name of Athena. I give you the blessing of Minerva. May it lead you to your true path._ Annabeth's mouth was suddenly dry. _Your true path._ What was it?

'Well?' Percy looked over her shoulder and Annabeth quickly covered the three sentences she had written.

'I'm sorry, Percy, but mom says I can't tell anyone. I will tell you, I promise, just… not yet.'

'It's okay,' Percy reassured her. 'I get it.' He glanced at his watch. 'We've been gone too long, almost an hour. People will be getting worried. We'd best get going.'

Annabeth stood, tucking the translation into her jeans pocket. 'I've got a room aboard the _Argo II_, so no need to worry about that. Are you going to sleep in the barracks or with me?' She blushed bright red. 'I mean, on the ship. Not actually, you know. Not even in the same room- I think I'm going to shut up now.'

Percy laughed and twined his fingers with hers. 'You do that. Don't worry, I got what you meant. I'll be in the barracks for tonight, but I might transfer to the _Argo II_ for the rest of the time that we're here. And speaking of that…' He hesitated for a second. 'How long _are_ we going to be here?'

Annabeth shrugged, and they walked to the ship in silence, still holding hands. When they got there, Annabeth turned to Percy.

'We'll talk more in the morning,' she promised, leaning up to kiss him lightly on the cheek. He cupped her face, bringing her in for a firmer kiss.

'Goodnight, Annabeth,' he whispered. 'I promise I won't go missing this time.'

She fixed him with a mock glare. 'You'd better not.' Then her gaze softened. 'Stay safe, Percy. Goodnight.' She quickly kissed him one more time then turned and left.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

That night, Annabeth dreamed. To put it bluntly, it wasn't a good dream. She opened her eyes to find herself in a huge cavern, the roof supported by massive pillars. Annabeth scrambled to her feet and dodged behind one before taking in the rest of her surroundings. One thing dominated the cavern- a statue of a sleeping woman, 20 feet tall and made of dirt.

A figure stepped out of the shadows, hooded and robed in black. He bowed low to Gaia- for that's who it was- and murmured 'My Lady.' The cavern amplified the sound, and Annabeth made a mental note to not so much as whisper.

Gaia's mouth didn't move, but the voice was hers nonetheless. 'My faithful one. Is it done?'

'You are all-knowing, My Lady. Are you not? Why don't you tell me?'

'Always a mercenary.' Gaia's soft laugh filled the chamber.

'You knew it when you hired me. I will be your most faithful servant- until you stop paying me. Then, who knows? I might even go over to the demigods' side.'

'Do not jest.' Her voice was deadly.

There was an awkward laugh from the figure. 'Of course, My Lady. I did not know you felt so strongly about it.'

'Hmm. Well, in answer to your question, I know everything concerning our campaign. Our agent should be finishing his task now.'

The figure had a smile in his voice when he spoke. 'That is good indeed. Now we may move into the next phase of our plan. But, if I may bring up the matter of the war in Rome-'

'Not just yet. I believe you have neglected to protect my temple properly.'

'What? But I didn't. There are a dozen guards at every entrance, and…'

'Not in that way. You didn't know that demigods could travel in their dreams?'

Hiding behind the pillar, Annabeth's mouth was dry. _No, no, no. You can't see me. You can't sense me. Except… Kronos could sense Percy. And if Gaia's even more powerful…_

'You have failed to protect my temple, and now we have an intruder to deal with.' Annabeth craned her neck, glancing round the edge of the pillar as Gaia continued. 'Don't we…' Gaia's eyes snapped open, fixing the girl in their expressionless, merciless gaze. 'Annabeth?'

Annabeth started awake, sitting up sharply, trying to catch her breath. The dream had been so vivid; she could still smell the musty scent of damp, decaying earth and feel the fear of when Gaia's eyes had met hers. What had woken her? Then she heard it again, a desperate yell. A voice she would know anywhere.

'_Festus!'_ It was Leo.


	11. Festus

**Okay. Here goes... I'm probably not going to go on with this. Mainly because the real MoA comes out in about four days, and partly because I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this from here. If anyone wants to adopt, feel free to drop me a PM! Me abandoning this has nothing to do with the review I got from a guest reviewer. For those of you who haven't read it, here it is:**

_hi i know you are trying to write a preview and i have read every single one of rick riordan's books and i have read your whole preview and i am sorry but it sucks i think you should give up writing and never try it again no hard fellings just doing business_

**Ladies and gentlemen, fellow readers and reviewers, I give you... the person who thinks they are actually entitled to tell someone to stop writing! No offence or anything, but I am _not_ stopping because someone tells me to. I am also not taking writing advice from someone who who uses no capital letters, no proper grammer and who can't even spell the word "feelings". Dude, that's a double E, not a double S. And "doing business" is not telling someone to give up and never write again. Doing business is telling someone where they've gone wrong and what they could do to improve. If you don't have anything good to say, keep your mouth shut (or your fingers off the keyboard).**

**On a lighter note, thank you to: Lunagirl222, TinyRules, squirrelLOVA, annabeth777, Leaseablue, cupcakeluvr16, coolgirl69, Anonymous, Anonymous, Anonymous, daugther of zeus, hghkkvgvkn, Mari3010, Artemis's Moonbeam, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, , hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Guest, Guest, twinarchers717, Guest, Anna, Issac, Musical Dream, Monster-slayer-2, nobody, Guest, PercyForever15, and everyone else who has read. That is a LOT of Guests.**

**And now to answer questions.**

**Anonymous: Alright, I'll admit that some people would say that hell is a swearword, but I was pretty sure that Rick's written it into the book somewhere. I only included it because I figured that if people had read the book and hadn't been bothered... Well, I apologise if I've offended you or anyone else.**

**daughter of zeus: Thanks! I am actually an aspiring writer, and it's reviews like that that encourage me to keep writing.**

**Guest: To be honest, I have no idea where I get my ideas from! I find that bouncing ideas off people works, even if the people have never read the books. Like, _there's this guy, he's lost his memory and been missing for months, but he's got his memory back now, what will his reaction be when he sees his girlfriend?_ A friend who's read the books helps, too.**

**Monster-slayer-2: I love this review! Seriously, I read it, like, 10 times. I have no life, do I? But honestly, I really, really love this review.**

**Well, I'm gonna post what I've got already (not even 500 words), but as I said, MoA's coming out soon for real, and I've run out of inspiration. So, Here you go!**

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><p>Leo could tell that something was wrong as soon as he woke. It took a little longer to work out what it was. He lay in silence, absently summoning flames at his fingertips and flicking sparks at the ceiling while trying to work out what was missing. It was almost ten minutes before he realised. <em>Festus.<em>

Every morning, he had been woken by the sound of the dragon's golden head snapping at pigeons and seagulls and depositing what ever he managed to catch on the deck. On one memorable occasion, there had been a weather balloon. No-one was ever quite sure how that had happened.

But the point was, this morning there was nothing. Leo wriggled forwards, rolling off his bunk. His cabin was right up at the prow- or front- of the _Argo II_, near Festus. The dragon always did what Leo wanted him to, even if it meant calling off his early-morning pigeon hunting.

'Festus?' he called softly. 'Festus! Here, boy!' Nothing. 'Festus? Where are you, boy? Come on, come to Leo!'

When there was still no reaction, Leo yanked his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt over his head and hurried out of his room. He stuck his head out of the hatch up on deck, a crisp breeze ruffling his curly black hair. _A perfect day for weather balloon hunting._ Instead, a worrying sight greeted his eyes.

A huge flock of crows- they were black, anyway, and Leo had never claimed to be an expert on _any_ type of bird- and magpies were circling the prow of the _Argo II_. And Festus wasn't trying to eat them. Leo hurled a ball of fire into the mass of birds and, ignoring the smell of burnt feathers, ran forwards. He quickly realised why the birds had been there. The side of the golden dragon's head had been completely caved in.

Leo felt a shudder run through his whole body. He was engulfed in flames before he realised what he was doing. The heat was so intense that the grass shrivelled and turned black beside the ship.

'Festus,' he whispered. Then, louder. 'Festus!' Leo leaped down off the deck and started to move towards Festus, then stopped. He took a deep breath and turned down the fire a little, just enough to avoid setting the whole camp on fire. That would probably be classed as a violent act, which they had been told very firmly to avoid.

Leo started walking, slowly, slowly, towards the dragon, one word echoing through his head. _Festus… Festus… Festus… oh my dad, Festus… _He ran the last few feet, the flames that engulfed his body dying down as he dropped to his knees besides Festus, cradling what was left of the dragon's head in his arms. The metal dragon stirred slightly, looking at Leo, and slowly closed one ruby eye in a cruel mockery of a wink. After a second, the other eye followed it, and neither eye opened again.

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><p><strong>Yes, cheerful, I know. I was actually planning to have Festus come back, but I figured it would be a good reason to stay at Camp Jupiter for a bit longer, rebuilding the control disc.<strong>

**Again, if anyone wants to adopt this story, feel free to send me a PM, but what with MoA coming out, I would have probably ended up using it's plot instead of my own.**

**I'm so, so sorry.**

**~Destiel4Ever**


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